This is my favorite essay on the eccentricities of the English language. The author is Richard Lederer, who wrote Anguished English, Crazy English, Get Thee to a Punnery and other delightful books about language. Enjoy. Let’s face it. English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger, neither apple […]
The Writer’s Process
It is said we all have a book inside of us. Yet many people struggle with getting words onto paper (or onto the computer screen). The new book, The Writer’s Process, provides some insights into this situation. The book discusses what hinders our writing (hint: it’s called human nature) and what we can do about […]
Proofreading 101
I am continually amazed at the number of typos and other written errors I find. How could such mistakes happen? It’s easy because we read: The outside shapes of words, not the individual letters Words in phrases, not just individual words Words in context, not isolated from the sentence’s meaning. Specifically, aoccdrnig to rscheearch at […]
One Word? Two Words?
I often see a single word being used when it should be two words. Here are some examples. Logon and log on “Logon” is a noun, describing the procedure used to get access to an operating system. “Logon” can also be used as an adjective, as in the “logon procedure.” “Log on” is a verb. […]
Ad Bloopers
The following ad bloopers are from Richard Lederer’s treasury of bloopers, “Anguished English: an Anthology of Accidental Assaults upon our Language” (ISBN: 044020352X). Four-poster bed, 101 years old. Perfect for antique lover. We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do it carefully by hand. Stock up and save. Limit: one. Man wanted to […]
Writing for the Web
Writing for the online world is different from writing for print. People don’t read online; they scan. In his study about how people read online, Jakob Nielsen found that “on the average Web page, users have time to read at most 28% of the words during an average visit; 20% is more likely.” What does […]
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